At Midnight's End
by Demetria912
Summary: AU. Bending was just announced as a crime against the government. Now all benders must unite or be branded and thrown in jail. But other things are popping up. What will happen to the gang when they uncover something that could change everything? TA,SS,ZK
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer- I don't own A:TLA**

**A/N- Well, this is one of my new stories. It's a modern day AU with bending because that's kind of the whole story. Rating will go up. This is the prologue. **

**Enjoy!**

**Prologue**

As Katara walked to class, she felt something hit her head. It made a clunking noise as it hit the ground, so she figured it was an empty can. If this had happened a week ago, she would have guessed that it was an accident. But it wasn't a week ago. It was now, so she knew that had been done on purpose.

Last week, benders were publicly announced as enemies of the government. The government said that benders would take over the government and force those who were non-benders into slavery. So now, all benders were ridiculed branded. And if were a prodigy or a master, you were locked up. And Katara was one of them.

Katara hadn't been branded though, because she wasn't considered a threat, but people still knew she was a bender, so the tormented her. Katara had always known she was a bender, but she had considered it special, not a crime.

Now, because of that announcement, nobody liked her anymore. Her own brother wouldn't even look at her.

**&&&&&**

"I'm sorry Twinkle Toes, I just can't do it," Toph told her new friend sadly.

Toph and Aang had met three weeks ago, just two weeks before the announcement. They had run into each other on the sidewalk, started talking, and became friends. But what had really drawn them to each other was that they found out that they were both benders.

"Toph, they'll find out eventually. Just get it over with," Aang said tried to coax her sweetly.

"But what if they reject me?" she asked him, 'looking' him in the eyes.

"They're your parents Toph. They won't reject you," he tried explaining to her.

"But what if they do? Then what will I do? Where would I go?" she asked, getting upset, tears springing in her eyes.

"Shh, shh, it'll be okay," Aang said, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. "Look, if that does happen, which it won't, you can come live with me and Gyotso. Don't worry about it."

Toph turned her head upwards toward him. "Really?"

"Of course Toph. I'll always be here for you."

A small smile appeared on her lips. "Thanks Twinkle Toes."

They pulled out of their embrace, but Aang kept one hand on her shoulder. "Look, if it'll help you at all, I'll go with you."

"No, no, I can do this on my own," Toph said bravely.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I'm going to tell my parents I'm a bender right now," she said as she walked into the next room where her parents were. Aang waited outside the door for her, to make sure everything was alright.

**&&&&&**

Zuko couldn't believe what was happening. He was being taken to get branded as a bender! He hadn't even known he was a bender until they had ordered that stupid search of his school for them and they found out. The only reason he was even being branded was because his father was a big business leader and the government wanted to know of all the benders who even were close to anyone with power. He could hear his sister's screams as she was being branded, much to his father's dismay.

_Could life get any worse? _He thought to himself.

**A/N- Well, what do you think? I'm only going to post the next chapter if I get at least two good reviews. That's all I'm asking for people!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N- Well, since I'm posting this, it means I've gotten at least two good reviews. Thanks everyone!!**

**BTW- This is a Modern Day AU. Just so we're clear. **

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter One**

"_Will Katara please report the office immediately? You are wanted in the office."_

That's what Katara heard when she was sitting in her first period class. The teacher nodded for her to leave, so she grabbed her books and left for the office. On the way there, she was so nervous. What had she done? She didn't do anything that was wrong, at least nothing that she knew about. She didn't do anything except study. Mainly because that was all she could do these days.

When she reached the office, the secretary glared at her and motioned for her to walk into the principal's office. He was sitting in his chair behind his large desk.

Katara sat down in a chair across from the principal. He wasted no time in getting right to the point.

"Katara, we have recently gone through your record and discovered that you are a bender."

"Yes, I am."

"Then I have no choice. You are here-by expelled from this school."

"WHAT?!" Katara exclaimed.

"This is what's good for the students and the school. What would parents say if they found out their kids were going to school with a bender," he tried explaining, but with no sympathy in his voice. _You rotten scum bags, _he thought to himself.

"But that's not fair! I never use my bending!" she cried.

"True, but we can't risk the student's safety. Now I'm going to have to ask you to leave," he said as two guards walked in and stood behind the principal protectively.

_What do they think I'm going to do? _She hastily got up and ran out the door and out of the school, not really caring where she ended up. Anywhere was fine as long as it was away from here…

&&&&&

Lao and Poppy could tell there was something wrong with their daughter when she walked in. She sat down in front of them and started talking.

"Mom, Dad, I have something to tell you," she said quietly.

There was a pause as Toph gathered her courage. The room was filled with tension.

"I'm a bender."

The cup in Poppy's hand slipped from her grasp and it went crashing to the floor.

"What?! No, that's impossible!" Lao freaked. "Our daughter isn't a bender. You are practically of royal blood. You couldn't be a one of those scumbags!"

That comment hurt Toph. She was just a scumbag to them?

She was about to respond when her father came up with his own conclusion.

"It must be that boy she's been hanging out with lately. He's been filling my daughter's head with lies! Guards! Arrest that boy!"

"What?! Dad, this has nothing to do with Aang! Leave him out of this!" she cries out.

But no one seemed to hear her, or if they did, they didn't care. The guards brought Aang into the room.

He shot Toph a look that said 'What's going on?', but it was lost on Toph, being blind and all. But she could still feel his fright though the ground.

Poppy ran over to her daughter to 'shield' her from Aang, as if his glance was poisonous. Toph was trying to squirm free.

"This boy has been filling my daughter's head with lies! And I have no doubt that he is a bender as well. I want his branded and thrown in jail!"

"NO! Don't do that to him!" Toph cried out as she wriggled free from her mother's grasp. She tries running to Aang, but she was blocked by guards.

Then a guard stepped up to her father.

"I'm sorry Mr. Beifong, but the officers cannot get here till morning."

"Fine. Lock him up somewhere where he won't escape."

"Aang! No daddy, please don't do this to him! He's my friend!" she said running up to her father.

Lao was infuriated that his daughter was standing up to him for the bending boy. He shoved Toph to the ground.

"Toph!" Aang cried as he saw her be pushed onto the floor. At his outburst, one of the guards slapped him hard across the face.

Tears started falling from Toph's face at the loud slapping noise.

"How could you stand up for that kind of scum?! He's not your friend Toph, he's an enemy of the government!"

She stayed on the ground and cried as everyone left the room. She cried because her parents took away her only friend. That they didn't really accept her. And she cried for Aang.

She stopped crying for a brief moment as a thought entered her head. She wasn't going to let Aang got though that torture. She was going to bust him out.

&&&&&

Zuko's arm stung immensely as he was thrown into the bender's jail. The brand was still hot on his arm, and he winced every time he had to move his arm.

He looked around the jail cell. It was even worse than the other jails he had seen while visiting cousin in jail.

_Great. Regular prisoners get better treatment than us, _he thought.

He wondered where his sister was. He had passed out soon after the branding and woke up just as the officers were about to throw him in jail. There were no windows, so he didn't know what time it was. He crouched in the corner and covered his face with his hands. He couldn't believe this was happening…

&&&&&

It was after school, even though it didn't matter for Katara. She walked past a bunch of kids she knew from school. They glared at her as she walked past. Some even turned their backs towards her, as if she wasn't even good enough to get glared at. She could feel tears springing in her eyes. She ran off, not wanting them to see her cry.

She had run far away and was walking down an ally when she heard someone running.

"Come back here you scum!" a raspy voice called after her.

It was the officers, and they were coming right towards her.

**A/N- Well, that's all for now. I'll update again when I get at least three reviews. They don't have to be good or bad, just three reviews. And I promise there will be more on Zuko later. You'll also find out how this has affected everyone else soon too. **

**Please review and thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer- I don't own A:TLA**

**A/N- Thanks to all who reviewed! **

**To answer Jesse Lin's question 'Would Toph really cry?' Since she's a twelve year old girl whose father just put her only friend she's ever had in jail and is going to have him branded with hot iron, I'd have to say yes, she would. But that's just my personal opinion. You are free to think whatever you want. **

**BTW- Zuko doesn't have his scar… yet.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

Katara turned around and faced the officers. "Ye… yes?" she asked.

"Hold it right there!" a cop said as three of them walked up to her.

Katara's eyes widened when she saw the guns pointed at her and she threw her arms up in the air above her head.

&&&&&

Aang was scarred, to say the least. He had heard from people who had gotten the brand that it was the worst thing that ever happened to them. Tears started running down his face as he thought of the pain that was going to come when the hot iron hit his skin.

_No! Don't think about that! _He scolded himself. But the thought kept coming back into his head. _No! Think about Toph! Yeah, think about her. _

So he started thinking about how she was now safe because her parents didn't believe she was a bender. She would never have to go through the pain, at least not for a while. He thought about all the fun they had over the three weeks they had known each other. He thought about her pretty face, but that started to bring more tears to his eyes.

Seeing her get thrown to the ground by her own father had ripped his heart apart. He felt even worse because if anything ever did happen to her, he wouldn't be able to protect her from it, because he was going to jail.

Because he was going to jail, he couldn't tell her how he really felt…

&&&&&

Zuko had been sitting in the same position for what seemed like hours when he heard a creaking noise.

"You've got company scumbag," a raspy voice called out.

Zuko heard a loud "Uh!" noise as someone was thrown into his cell.

He looked up with a barren look on his face. He noticed it was a girl. She looked up and took in her surroundings. He could see the fear in her eyes. _Poor kid. _

He could tell she was too weak to walk, probably from being beaten.

"Umm… hi," she said warily.

He just looked her dead in the eyes. "Did they beat you?"

"Yeah. They must have been afraid that I would cause a fight," she said sadly.

"Do you even know how to use your bending?" he asked her. He still had a poker face.

"How did you know I was a bender?" she asked.

"This is a bending jail, there for you either are one or they think you are one and they didn't bother checking," he said with a flat voice.

Her face seemed to drop for some reason. "Yeah, I am a bender, but I hardly know how to use it. Yourself?"

"I'm a bender, but I have no idea which one I am."

"Then how do they know you are one?"

"They have some kind of test. I only had to take it because my dad had lots of power."

"That's horrible," she said sympathetically. There was a brief moment of silence until she held out her hand. "I'm Katara by the way."

He took her hand and shook it. "Zuko."

&&&&&

It was getting late, and Toph decided that it was the right time to bust Aang out. She snuck out her window and used her earth bending to located Aang. She searched for a half hour until she finally found him. She noticed she had past this spot earlier. She keyed in on her senses more. _That's why I missed him. He's depressed, so he's putting more pressure on the ground. _

She placed her hands on the wall and concentrated on her earth bending. _Come on Toph. You can do this._ She felt the earth in the wall shift slightly. _Bingo._

&&&&&&

"So why are you here?" Zuko asked Katara.

She sighed. "Some kids from my former school thought it would be funny to tell the cops I had stolen something. And since I'm a bender, it's 'throw you in jail and brand you first, ask questions later.' If they ask questions."

"Don't get your hopes up. They're never going to ask questions. It's 'you're wrong, and we're right.' There's nothing about questions in that statement," Zuko said solemnly.

Katara gave a sad laugh. Then something hit Zuko. "Did they brand you?"

"Not yet, but I have no doubt they will," she said evenly.

"You don't seem to upset about that. It hurts like hell," he said showing her his arm.

"That's horrible!" she cried. Then her expression changed. "But there's nothing I can do about it. So why should I get worked up about it? Besides, I'm a water bender, so hopefully that will help."

"Why would that make a difference?"

"Apparently some water benders have healing powers. I'm hoping I have them too."

He nodded, wishing he had that power.

"If I have them, I'll try and heal your burn too," she said kindly.

He gave her a small smile.

"Are you curious as to what kind of bender you are?" she asked.

He started to get mad. He didn't want to be a bender, so why should he find out which one he was? "No, I'm not," he snapped.

She seemed to understand why he was angry. "It's going to change anything if you don't know. You'll still have the mark, so everyone will know you are one. Why not use it for your advantage?"

"What advantage? We're stuck in metal cell and I doubt the officers are planning on letting us out any time soon, if at all!"

Katara didn't let it show that she was shaken up by his outburst. "Alright I guess if you don't want to talk about it, I'm going to sleep."

She walked to the opposite corner and lay down. He looked down at his brand, mixed feelings starting up in his heart.

&&&&&&

Aang looked up sharply when he heard a low rumbling noise coming from the wall. He backed up to the opposite wall. There was a small explosion and a hole appeared in the wall. Through the dust cloud, he could see a figure. Toph.

He immediately sprang up and ran over to her. He was about to say something when she covered his mouth with her hand. It was kind of freaky how she could almost predict your next move.

"Not now," she hissed at him. She motioned him to follow her with her hand. He followed her out of the room. He kept following her until the reached the wall that separated her house from the rest of the world. Then he realized something.

"Aren't you going to close up the whole in the wall?" he whispered in her ear.

She shook her head _no_. Then she pointed up. _Take us over the wall. _

He grabbed her around the waist and air bended them onto the wall, and then onto the other side.

Once Toph's feet touched the ground, she started to run in the opposite direction from her home. Aang followed her close on her heels. They had been running for ten minutes and were in a forest when Toph slowed down to a stop.

Aang stopped immediately and looked at her. "Is everything okay Toph?" he asked caringly as he walked up to her.

She placed her hands on her knees and breathed heavily. "I'm fine, just tired."

Aang grabbed her hands and pulled her down on the ground across from him. This was the prefect time to tell her something he had wanted to tell her for a while, but he knew they had to use this time plan what they were going to do, not chitchat.

"What are we going to do now?" he asked her.

She shrugged in response, for she didn't think she could talk right now, for two reasons. One was because of her empty lungs, the other was because she was painfully aware of the fact that Aang had yet to let go of her hands.

"Should we go back and stay with Gyotso?" he suggested.

Toph looked up sharply and shook her head. She gathered up air in her lungs to try and speak. "We can't--the officers—will—go there—first," she managed out.

He nodded in understanding. He could tell she trouble speaking, so he crawled over to her other side, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and leaned her up against him. "It's okay. You just rest now. We'll figure out something later. We're far enough away so they won't find us for a while."

In response, she slumped onto his chest and fell asleep. He pulled her closer and took a good look at there surroundings. They were all alone in the middle of a forest at night. He realized then that he had never felt so alone before. The only thing he had now was the girl sleeping in his arms. It was a sad feeling.

&&&&&

Lao Beifong went to his daughter's room to make sure she was alright. He felt horrible for pushing her to the ground earlier that day. He had been so mad at her that he had lost control of his emotions, but that was still no right to shove his only daughter.

"Toph?" he asked quietly.

No response came from the other side of the door. He figured she was ignoring him because she was mad at him, so he kept talking.

"Toph, I'm sorry I pushed you today. I was just mad that you were sticking up for that bending boy. I know he was your friend, but those _things_ aren't your friends. They are power obsessed and all they care about is enslaving us normal people. I wouldn't have been at all surprise if he had just been using you," he said through the door.

There was still silence. "Toph? Toph are you even listening to me?"

He swung the door open and saw it was empty.

He ran to the nearest and yelled in his face. "Where is my daughter?!"

"I-I don't know Sir," stammered the guard.

"Well find her!" Lao yelled.

The guards were running off in different directions, looking for Toph. Lao went down the hall to tell his wife the news. She started to cry when she heard it.

Then a guard came rushing in. "Umm… Sir, we just checked up on the prisoner. He's escaped too."

Lao felt the blood rush to his face while his wife started bawling her eyes out. _That bender boy has kidnapped my daughter. He won't get away with this. _

&&&&&

_I wonder what bender I really am. _Zuko thought to himself. _Katara's right… even though I won't admit it. Well, since there's no water or earth, maybe I should try fire. _

He stuck out his palm and concentrated. He really didn't know what he was concentrating on, but it was worth a try. Then he felt some kind of warmth coming from his palm. He opened one eye and saw a small flame erupt from his palm. Both of his eyes shot open at the sight. He was a fire bender!

With the flame in his one hand, he looked at the brand on his other arm. Then he did something he barely believed he was doing.

Sudden pain shot through arm. Everything started to go a blinding white. Then the flame started to get out of control. He screamed at the top of his lungs. He was in so much pain. Yet, somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew this was nothing to what he was going to have to go through in the future…

**A/N- Well? What did you think? It's definitely longer than the other two. In fact, this chapter just doubled the number of words in this story. If any of you can guess what Zuko actually did, you get a big cookie! **

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N- Tefnut Talvi and Rzz get big cookies! Rzz gets a chocolate chip cookie because that's what you wanted. And ya'll find out exactly what happened to Zuko… now!**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter Three**

Katara woke up from her short nap to someone screaming. She sat upright abruptly and her head hurt a little from getting up so fast. Despite that, she looked around to see where the noise had come from. But the only thing she saw was Zuko huddled in the corner of their metal cell.

She stood up and walked over to him cautiously.

"Zu-Zuko?" she stuttered. "I-is everything okay?"

She waited for a minute, but he didn't move or say anything. She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder and he freaked out.

"NO! DON'T COME NEAR ME!" he screamed.

"Zuko what's wrong?" Katara asked, scarred for him.

He hesitated for moment and then turned around to show her. What she saw made her loose her balance and fall backwards.

&&&&&

When Toph woke up, she found herself in a foreign place. She was also in the arms of a sleeping Aang, which caused her to blush a little.

_Why am I blushing? _She asked herself.

She stirred slightly, which woke Aang up.

"Huh? What's going on?" asked Aang groggily.

"I don't know. I was just going to ask you that same question Twinkle Toes," Toph said.

Aang took a look at their surroundings. All of a sudden, everything came flooding back to him, and by the look on Toph's face, it happened to her too. Toph telling her parents, Aang getting arrested, Toph busting him out, and most importantly, them running away, and having no where to go.

"So what do we do now?" Toph asked quietly.

Aang tightened his grip on her unconsciously and rested his head on her shoulder. He thought for a minute.

"I don't know Toph."

Toph felt like crying, even though she wouldn't let it show. She didn't know what to do. She defiantly didn't want to go home, and Aang couldn't go home, even if he wanted to. All they had was each other. And that was a sad thought.

Both of them just sat there for a while, until they became consciously aware of the fact they were so close. They separated and blushed. There was an awkward silence until Aang coughed, getting Toph's attention.

"We should get going. Maybe there's a nearby town where we can find food and shelter?" Aang suggested.

"Who would help us? I mean, the word probably got out that you got out and that I ran away. And knowing my dad, he probably assumes you kidnapped me," said Toph.

Aang was quiet for minute, thinking. "Maybe… maybe you should just go home Toph. You'll be safer there. I don't want you to feel that you have to come along with me," Aang said softly.

Toph looked at him like he had just suggested she cut of her own foot. "How could you even suggest that Twinkle Toes? I came with after I busted you out for a reason. If I had wanted to stay, I would have." She paused for a minute to grab his hand. "I'm coming with you whether you like it or not. You can't get rid of me."

When Toph said that, Aang's face lit up dramatically. He squeezed her hand a little and they started to walk out of the forest together, hoping for the best.

&&&&&

Zuko's face was still steaming, even though Katara was done using the water they were given to drink to cool off his face and arm. It still looked pretty bad though. The burn on his arm wasn't that bad, it was the one on his face. It covered almost the whole left side of his face and stretched back to his ear.

Though Katara was still impressed with him. He hadn't cried the whole time; scream a little, but no crying.

"How is it now?" she asked, after all the water was gone.

"Okay I guess," he said sullenly.

She could see the anguish on his face, so decided to try and lighten the mood. "That's good. You know what they say, that which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."

"I just wish it didn't have to be this way," he said quietly.

"So do I," she agreed.

They sat there in silence for what seemed like forever. They didn't know what to do.

"Maybe we should try practicing our bending?" Katara suggested.

"Why should I? So this can happen again?" he snarled, pointing at his scar.

"Zuko, why'd you do that in the first place?" she asked.

"Because of you! You suggested that I try bending, so I did. And look what happened!" he hollered, conveniently leaving out the part where he tried burning his brand off.

Katara looked so hurt as he walked to opposite corner of the room, to sulk. _What am I going to do now? _

**A/N- Yeah, this chapter is short. I am well aware of that fact. Right now, I have writers block for this story AND Glamorous Life. So I might not be updating for a while. I also have an English speech to write/ make poster for, so updating might not be for a while. **

**Thanks for reading and please review. **


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N- Hmmm… not much to say here. Just that I'm trying my very best to take everyone's suggestions and I'm trying to connect this to the series as best as I can (ex. Zuko's scar… and more to come…)**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4**

When Sokka came home from school that day, he was actually happy. His sister had gotten kicked out of school. Now he didn't have to pretend he didn't know her because he was embarrassed. He could live his life freely.

Or at least that's what he thought before he got home…

When he got home, the cars of the officers were outside his house. He wondered if Katara had done something stupid. He approached cautiously, but stopped when he heard people coming out.

Hakoda and Kana were being dragged out by the officers in handcuffs. At this, Sokka ran behind the bushes, so no one would see him. Hakoda seemed to be struggling slightly against the cuffs, and Kana was talking to the sky. _Probably praying… _Sokka thought.

Then the officers carried out something. Sokka squinted to see better. It took him a while to figure it out, and when he did, he wished he hadn't.

&&&&&

Azula walked with her father away from the benders prison. When she turned around to give it one last look, she couldn't help but notice that the whole place seemed to have eerie dark clouds above it.

She turned back to the walkway she was being lead down by her father. Ozai had bailed her out with a large amount of money, because even the officers had their price, and Ozai had it. Though he left Zuko in the prison, claiming that it was where he belonged anyway. That he didn't deserve to see the light of day again. She smirked. She agreed with her father.

&&&&&

_Mom… _thought Sokka as he walked the empty streets of his neighbor hoods by himself. The officers had killed his mom while trying to arrest them. But his mom had put up a fight, so they shot her three times, to make sure she died. Or at least that was what he had overheard.

_THIS IS ALL KATARA'S FAULT! _was his original thought.

_No… it's not her fault she was born like this… maybe the officers aren't always right, like I believed before…_

_I have to find Katara!_

&&&&&

"Okay, so we're here," Aang said to himself as he looked at a map they had just bought with the little money they had.

"Would you talk to yourself a little quieter Twinkle Toes? I'm trying to concentrate!" Toph hollered, who was trying to practice her Earth bending skills.

Aang shut up and looked at the map a little more.

"Okay Toph," Aang said to her. She stopped Earth bending and faced him. "I think we should start heading to the mountains."

"Why there?" she asked coming up to him.

"Because it'll be harder for the officers to find us there," he explained.

Toph placed her elbow on his shoulder while she thought about this. Aang couldn't help but blush at their closeness. _I really want to tell her how I feel, but now just doesn't seem to be the time…_

Toph, oblivious to his rapidly increasing heart beat, just shrugged at the idea.

"Whatever you say Twinkle Toes," she said.

&&&&&

Inside the cell where Katara and Zuko were, Katara was practicing her Water bending and Zuko wary on whether or not he should try to use his bending.

"Zuko, it'll be okay," Katara tried to reason.

"I don't want to," he mumbled.

"But how will we bust out of here if you don't help?" she hissed.

"Maybe I don't belong in the outside world again…"

Katara couldn't believe what she was hearing come from his mouth.

"I guess I'm on my own..." she said softly.

**A/N- There you go! I actually have ideas for the next chapter! YES! I'd also like to thank Tefnut Talvi for giving me some ideas that I am going to use. Thanks a bunch!**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N- I'm sorry it took me so long to write this. I had a little writers block on this one.**

**Enjoy!**

"Twinkle Toes, we've been traveling for hours, can we please take a break?" Toph pleaded from behind Aang.

Aang looked back at her. She was holding onto a nearby tree, gasping for air. He sighed.

"Alright, but we should be quick. We have to get a little closer by nightfall," he told her.

She nodded before letting go of the branch, falling face first into the dirt.

He laughed when he noticed that she was now lying in an imprint of herself in the ground.

She looked up sharply when he started laughing. "What's so funny Twinkle Toes?"

"You have and imprint of yourself in the dirt," he said.

She laughed a little and got up. She didn't even bother to wipe the dirt off of her clothes.

"Don't you want to wipe that dirt off?" Aang asked her.

"You call it dirt, I call it a healthy coating of Earth," she tells him.

He shrugs and they start walking again. What they didn't know was that there was another pair of eyes watching them from a nearby tree.

**&&&&&&**

Katara kept running as the alarms sounded from behind her. She had broken out of the cell, regretfully leaving Zuko behind.

_Why'd this place have to be like a maze?_

She was running for so long, she didn't know how much longer she could keep this up.

Then someone with a blue mask jumped in front of her. She jumped backwards in surprise as the person pulled out two swords.

"Wh-who are you?" she asked.

The person said nothing, only motioned her to follow them. She did so, wondering if this person was going to lead her to her death.

After following the person for a while, they reached the gates of the prison. Her eyes widened in shock at the size.

But they weren't in the clear yet. The guards saw them and all charged. The person took out the swords and used them to block the stunning bullets that were shot at them.

Katara looked around for a source of water. She saw a hose faucet. She reached her arm out and Water bended the water out of it. The guards backed away slightly in fear of her bending. She gathered as much as she could up before shooting it at the guards in a stream of water.

Loosing their footing, the guards were pushed back. She concentrated and froze them in place.

As the person held off the guards with the swords, Katara gathered more water from the faucet and splashed it onto the chain link fence. She froze that too and broke it with a ball of water.

She ran through the hole as the other person followed at her heals. They ran as fast as they could, thankful that this prison got barely any funds to hire people.

**&&&&&&**

Toph and Aang reached the next city by sun down. The last rays of the day were hitting the horizon, making it glow a bright red. As Aang walked down the side walk next to Toph, he couldn't help but notice they were getting strange looks. Something told him this town didn't get many visitors.

Toph noticed this too. "Twinkle Toes, I think we should skip this town," she whispered to him.

"Yeah, I don't like it here either," he said.

There weren't many people on the sidewalk, so they stuck out a lot.

A car pulled up next to them as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. Aang started to get nervous as the window rolled down.

"Hey kids. I'd get out of here if I were you," the person in the car said.

"Why?" Aang asked.

But before he got his answer, the car speed off away from them.

"What was that about Twinkle Toes?" Toph asked.

"I don't know Toph," Aang said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. He was really nervous, and Toph could tell just by his hand on her shoulder.

Toph then realized that they were the only ones out. Aang realized this too, and he looked around frantically. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed how run-down this neighbor hood was. There weren't any lights on either, so it made it hard for him to see.

Toph was starting to figure that Aang couldn't see very well because he kept bumping into her. She moved his hand off of her shoulder and took it in her hand. She pulled on it, motioning him to follow her lead.

She stopped walking when she felt more vibrations than just her own and Aang's.

"Hey kids, this is our place. We own this town, and you're on our turf," a voice said from behind them.

The two turned around. Aang could just make out six thugs advancing on them. They turned around, only to run into three more.

Aang and Toph backed up a little bit.

"What do we do Toph?" Aang asked her quietly.

"Umm… wing it?" she suggested.

Aang turned his attention back to the thugs. He noticed that they weren't looking at him, but rather at Toph. His eyes widened. _Oh no…_

All of them were in front of the two now. Even though she was blind, Toph knew what was going on. Aang held onto Toph's hand harder. She knew what he was silently telling her. _I'll help you out. _

They let go of each other's hands and dropped into fighting stances.

&&&&&&

Sokka had been looking around for his sister for hours. "Where could one girl go?" he asked himself out loud.

"Let me guess, your girlfriend ran off on you?" asked a girl behind him.

"Aahh!" he yelled. He turned around to see a girl wearing a green fighting outfit and her face was painted white. He relaxed a little bit.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"A loner. Well, I am now, because all my friends don't believe in rights for benders while I do," she told him.

"Really?" he said surprised. "My sister's a bender, that's who I'm looking for."

She held out her hand to him. "I'm Suki."

He shook her hand. "I'm Sokka."

**&&&&&&**

Toph bended a rock at the thugs in front of her, but they still didn't go away. Aang was trying to help her by using his Air bending, but nothing was working, the thugs just kept at it.

Aang was so worried he wouldn't be able to help her. He could tell the thugs were getting tired of fighting them. All of a sudden, something made contact with the back of his head, sending him to the ground.

Toph screamed as all the thugs advanced on her. Aang could feel something similar to anger rising. He could also feel some sort of super power in him breaking free of its chain inside him. He felt himself rise above the ground, but could do nothing about it.

Toph screamed again when she couldn't find Aang's vibrations. She was so scared. Though she noticed that the thugs were no longer interested in her, they were backing away from something. They ran in the opposite direction, and she was curious as to what they were running from. She didn't feel any vibrations from anything, though she could feel the winds around her picking up speed, which scared her.

"AANG!" she cried out. "Aang! Where are you?!"

She walked around with her arms spread out in front of her. _Where is he?_

Her hand made contact with something. She grabbed onto it. It felt like Aang's foot.

"Aang?" she asked surprised.

The winds around her picked up some more speed.

"Aang! What's going on?! What are you doing?!" she cried to him.

But he couldn't seem to hear her. She used her strength to pull him down on the ground. She hugged him.

"Please Aang! Stop whatever you're doing! Please!"

The wind speed started to die down and Aang started to come back to reality.

"T-Toph?" he asked weakly.

Toph relaxed. "Aang, what happened?"

"I don't know Toph. I really don't know," he said as he hugged her back.

**A/N- What do you think? I don't think it was as good as my others, so please tell me what you think. Please review!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N- Yay! I finished my finals! And I think I did pretty good on them too. **

**Enjoy!**

Katara looked back to see that the masked person was gone. She stopped in her tracks immediately.

_I have to help them! _She thought.

She started to run back, but stopped again.

_I can't help them! I have no bending and I can't fight any other way. _

Katara wanted to cry at her uselessness.

_No, I have to keep going, or all they did for me will be in vain._

So she continued to run away, but a few tears did escape her eyes.

&&&&&&

Zuko looked at the mask in his hand. He had stolen it and his swords from the warden's office just after Katara escaped.

He had known he had to do something to help her, but he was not one to admit he was wrong.

So he had stolen the mask and swords as a disguise from Katara. He helped her escape prison, and then ends up in the middle of the forest, because he ditched her.

_Maybe I should go find her again… _he thought to himself.

He put the mask in a hole in a tree and went off to find Katara again.

&&&&&&

Aang and Toph walked slowly down the dirt road, their minds on the event that took place earlier that night.

They stopped after a while just off the road for the night. After eating what little food they had, the lied down to go to sleep, but Aang was still thinking about earlier.

_What happened? Why did I do that? What if I can't control it and it just happens spontaneously? _He thought.

He looked over at Toph sleeping just a little ways away from him.

_What if I can't control this and I hurt her?! That would be horrible! _

He crawled over to her sleeping form. He looked at her peaceful face and smiled a little. He reached out and touched her face tenderly.

_The most important thing is that she's safe. And if that's without me being with her, so be it._

He leaned over and gave her a quick hug before standing up. He didn't gather any of his supplies; instead, he left them there for Toph.

He took one last look back at her before leaving her.

"Be safe Toph," he whispered.

&&&&&&

Katara sat on a rock and panted heavily as she took her quick break before starting to run again. She didn't know how much distance she had put between herself and the jail, but it didn't seem like enough to her. She had to keep running.

Then she heard a sound from behind her. It was a twig snapping. The first thing that came into her head was that it was the guards.

She jumped up and continued to keep running. She couldn't hear anything anymore, but she still kept running.

She could feel herself getting light headed. The ground beneath her feet felt like it was moving.

She started losing her balance. Suddenly, the ground came up very close to her as she fell down on her hands and knees. When her head hit the grass, she could hear the steps of someone coming up behind her.

"Katara?" a voice asked her.

As white spots appeared in front of her face, the person called out again.

"Katara, what's wrong?!"

The voice knelt beside her as the darkness took over her eyesight.

&&&&&&&

Toph woke up the next morning scared. Aang was gone. She didn't know what happened to him. He never left her before she woke up. Actually, for the past couple of weeks, she had barely spent any time without him.

She patted her foot on the ground, trying to find his vibrations. But he was gone.

"What am I going to do? What if he got kidnapped?" she said out loud to herself.

Toph packed up the stuff and headed towards the town that she and Aang were going to go to next.

&&&&&&

Aang used his Air bending to run as fast as he could so he could get to the next city. He had run through a forest so he could avoid the roads, where people might recognize him.

When he got to the next city, he noticed that it was kind of run down. It was still better than the last one he and Toph had been too, but it still wasn't that good.

_Toph… _he thought. _No! Thinking of her will just make you sadder._

When he got into the city, he noticed a guy sitting outside of a small hospital. The guy looked very depressed.

"Hi," Aang said the guy.

"What do you want?" the guy hissed at him.

"You look so depressed, I was wondering if you were alright," Aang told him.

The guy gave him a blank stare. "Why would you care? You're just a kid. Kids don't care about anything other than themselves," he said darkly.

Aang took a bold move and sat down next to the guy. "Not all of us are like that. Some of us actually care what goes on around us."

The guy looked down at his knees.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" Aang asked him.

The guy's shoulders sagged a little bit and he started to speak. "My friend who's a girl is in the hospital."

"She means a lot to you, doesn't she?" Aang asked.

He nodded. "We just met actually. But even so, she does mean a lot to me. She's just so different than all other girls," he said.

"What happened?"

"There was this incident, and she got really hurt. I took her to the nearest hospital I could find, which just happened to be this one," the guys said.

"But that's not the worst part. I feel like the reason she got hurt was my fault. These people were chasing us because of me. My family's not exactly popular. I'm starting to think that maybe I should leave her to make her safe."

As car drove by slowly, the guy looked up dully and Aang could see the far away look in his eyes.

"But you shouldn't do that. I'm sure she'd want to be with you. She'd want to help you. She'd want…" Aang stopped as realization hit him.

He buried his face in his hands and he groaned.

"What's wrong?" the other guy asked.

"I should be listening to my own advice," he said as he took his face out of his hands.

The guy looked at him strangely.

"I have a similar problem. I left my best friend who's a girl just to protect her," Aang said.

Just then, a nurse came out.

"Sir, it's okay to see your friend now," she said.

She walked back inside as the two guys stood up.

"Look dude. How about after we visit my friend, we go look for yours?" the other guy said.

Aang smiled slightly and nodded.

They started to walk in when Aang remembered something.

"Hey, I never got your name," he said to the guy.

"I'm Sokka," he said, holding out his hand.

"I'm Aang," Aang said, shaking Sokka's hand.

**A/N- You'll find out what actually happened to Sokka next chapter. I tried to make it sound like it could have been Zuko Aang was talking to. Please review!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Okay, I'm trying a different way of writing. I'm putting for detail in it. PLEASE let me know which was you like better, the more dialogue, or this new way.**

**Enjoy!**

The hallway to Sokka's friend's hospital room was dark and dreary. The walls were a dirty white color and had cracks in them. On the floor was noticeable grime collection. It was obvious that this place didn't have very good sanitation, but it was a free hospital and the only place within a few miles, so if it was all you have, it wasn't bad.

Aang looked over at Sokka, who, even in the dim light, has visible lines of depression and guilt on his face.

"So what happened to your friend?" Aang asked Sokka in a quiet voice as they walked down the hallway to her hospital room.

He sighed as he stopped walking to look at his feet. "Well, you see, we went back to her town so she could say goodbye to all her friends because she wanted to continue traveling with me, but…"

_Flashback…_

_Suki and Sokka could hear the sirens of the officer's cars in the distance. The mayor, and old man, came to the door of where they were hanging out. _

"_You must come quickly Suki! The officers are at our town front!" he called out._

_Sokka looked at Suki frantically. "What's going on?" he asked her._

"_I'm part of the town's police force. I have to help!" she said as she followed the mayor ourt._

_He followed her out the door and saw a massive amount of officers with flame throwers._

"_Where are you Water bender! We know you're around here somewhere!" one of them called out. _

They're looking for my sister! _Sokka immediately thought. _They must have known I was her brother and followed me!

_Suki appeared suddenly with the rest of the police force, ready to defend their town. "We here in Kyoshi hold no fugitives of the bending arts! Leave our town!" Suki yelled out to them. _

_Sokka ducked behind some buildings to avoid being seen. He crept around to the other side of the building to get a good look without being seen. The sun was setting in the distance, but the soft glow of the sun was hardened by the scene in front of him. Suki and the head officer were directly parallel from each other. It was the worst time during war. The silence before the battle, it was taunting, neither side knowing who was going to attack first. _

_No one spoke, and Sokka held his breath as everyone awaited the officer's decision, the decision that could end up costing many lives. _

"_Search the town," he darkly ordered the others. "We WILL find that water bender."_

_The words that would bring the end to Kyoshi. Sokka watched as the fight unfolded in front of him. He felt helpless from his hiding spot as he watched people of all ages get killed. The gunshots of the officer's guns filled the air and the sun set behind the horizon. But light was not severed, because everything was on fire. The officer's were ruthless in the search for Katar, who wasn't even there. Every building that was searched and came up negative was burned. _

_Sokka knew that they knew who he was, and if he made a noticeable exit, they might follow him. He snuck behind the burning buildings to where the officer's cars were. Before he reached them, a hand caught him on the shoulder. He turned around immediately and jumped backwards. He was surprised to see that it was Suki._

"_Suki?" he questioned. _

"_They've killed everyone!" she cried. "I can't find any survivor!"_

"_They're probably hiding," Sokka said quietly, mostly to himself. He ran to one of the cars. _

"_What are you doing?!" Suki cried out. Sokka snapped his head towards her. _

"_I have to get out of here! They'll follow me," he told her as he grabbed her hand and continued to run. _

"_Why you?!" she asked. _

"_I'll explain later!" he yelled back at her. They reached the cars and he opened on of the doors and hopped in. _

"_Get in!" he yelled. Suki did so and Sokka started the engine with the key that the officer's had stupidly let in the ignition. The head lights flared up and all the officers stopped what they were doing and looked at the car. Sokka stepped hard on the gas pedal and the car skidded forward, the needle measuring the speed jumping from zero to forty in only a few seconds. They went forward a little before Sokka slammed on both the gas pedal and breaks at the same time and turned the wheel to the right as much as he could, causing the car to make a sharp U-turn. He sped forward, going through the tight line of the other cars, causing the car they were in to jerk a little as it hit some of the other cars. Sokka took a quick look in his review mirror to see the other officers rushing to their cars to follow him. He smirked; he had a plan to loose them. _

_Suki was screaming the seat next to hm, for they were going fast than she had ever gone in a car. Truth was, Sokka had never done this either, but he was going to do it anyway. _

"_So why again are they following you?" Suki hollered over the engine. The speed dial went up to sixty as Sokka responded. _

"_They're looking for my sister!" he yelled. Then he saw what he was looking for. At the T in the road, where you had to either go left or right, not straight, there was a bridge. _

"_Get ready to jump!" he yelled at Suki. _

"_You've got to be kidding me!!" she yelled at him. He shook his head. _

"_Not at all," he said. He opened his door a crack, using his strength to hold it in place as it threatened to open. Suki did the same, though she was having a little more difficultly holding the door in place. _

_They reached the edge of the bridge, and Sokka took one last look in the mirror. They were still following him. The car zoomed off the bridge, breaking the rail, and once it was over the edge, Sokka jumped out of the car into the water below. Suki soon followed. They plunged into the icy cold water. Sokka pushed himself above the surface just as the car hit the water, making a huge splash. He smirked as some of the other cars also followed, making the waves almost unbearable. He plunged under water and opened his eyes. He couldn't see any of the officers getting out of the car, so he assumed them dead, like the rest who didn't follow him assumed of himself. He took another breath of air and swam towards Suki who was on the shore. She didn't look so good. She had lots of cuts and looked like she had a few broken bones. How she got them, he didn't know, but he suddenly felt responsible. He knelt next to her and checked her breathing. It was soft and shallow, but was there none the less. He picked her up in his arms and ran out of sight towards the nearest hospital…_

_End Flashback_

"So that's how I ended up here," Sokka concluded. They had started walking again, but only so slightly. Aang's jaw had literally dropped at Sokka's story. Aang was about to ask whether Sokka was a bender or not, though he assumed not, but Sokka spoke again.

"You know, I used to think stuff like that was awesome when I saw it in the movies, but now that it's happened to me, it's a necessity to survive. I probably wouldn't be alive if I hadn't done that. And now that I actually think about it, it was incredibly stupid, but worth it," Sokka said.

Aang was amazed at the guy standing next to him. He was the kind of guy who could come up with a plan of escape in less than a minute.

"So I take it your not a bender?" Aang asked.

"No, I'm not. But I get by everyday," he said proudly.

They finally reached Suki's room, and Sokka was happy to see that she was awake and sitting up.

He rushed over to her and hugged her. Aang stood in the doorway, watching the reuniting of friends, even though they were never really separated. It made him more eager to go find Toph and apologize. He hoped she would take him back.

&&&&&&

Outside of the hospital, a teenage girl with jet black hair and a menacing grin plastered on her face was waiting for the two boys to exit the building. She had a little surprise for them…

**A/N: Well, what do you think? Definatly more action than the other chapters. Please review. **

**Thanks for reviewing!**


	9. Author's Note

**A/N- **!!!IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!

_Heart Filled Passion_ is discontinued. Reason? I can't stand it. I've lost interest, and personally, I think it is a horrible story. I actually fill the same way about _Test of Love_, but I've already finished it. So that's out.

_Glamorous Life_ is also discontinued. Same reason. I also just have too much to do right now come up with more stuff to put into it.

_At Midnight's End _is the only one I'm going to keep working on of my original stories. But it will move very, very, _very_ slowly. It's just that I don't have anytime to type anything.

One more thing, if anyone would like to continue Heart Filled Passion or Glamorous Life as their own, I couldn't care less. Write away. I'd love to read what you all come up with. Though those are the only two stories. The rest are _**MINE.**_

I might be coming up with another story though. But then again, I might just keep it in my notebook 'cause I have no time to type it.

Demetria912


	10. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry to have not updated for such a long time. I had to find motivation.

* * *

**Toph stomped though the forest. She could tell that it was nighttime, but she couldn't care less. Her goal was getting out of the forest, where all the trees and plants vibrations were giving her a headache. But she pressed on anyway; a little pain in her head was not going to slow her down. She Earth bended a better path for herself in one swift motion without breaking her pace. She couldn't wait to find Aang, so she could Earth bend his butt into the next century. 

That one thought is what kept Toph walking on when it started raining.

* * *

The black haired girl that was waiting for the two boys to exit the hospital hissed a little as the rain started up. She let the fire in her heat up to the point where the wet rain drops that landed on her turned into steam.

She shifted on her feet anxiously as she waited for the two to exit the hospital. Her father had given her specific instructions to find out which kid was the Avatar. She figured that the Avatar would be traveling around, trying to master the elements. She also knew that the Air benders were all killed years ago, so this kid would be the only one who could Air bend. That's what she was looking for.

She saw three figures that looked like them and an extra coming out into the night. Azula's lips curved into a vicious smile. This would be fun….

* * *

Katara awoke in the middle of the forest with something cool upon her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open to see a blurry figure over her. She closed her eyes again and shook her head a little to make the blurriness go away, but it only succeeded in giving her a headache.

She re-opened her eyes to see the blurry figure leaving her. She didn't want that to happen, so she tried to get up, but found that it took her a lot of energy than she anticipated. She collapsed back on the ground in a coughing fit.

She weakly opened her eyes again to see that the figure was gone. Her eyes seemed to get heavy and close again by themselves. She could feel sleep about to take her again, but this time, the warm presence of another person was gone, and all she felt was cold. The freezing rain only made it worse.

* * *

When Aang walked out from the hospital, he noticed it raining. Silently he begged Toph would be okay. He looked over at his two companions. Sokka and Suki were hand in hand, their reason being because Suki needed help walking, but Aang knew it was because they liked each other as more than friends. They had just stepped under the street light when they heard a crackling noise from around the corner. They stopped in their tracks as the hair on the back of their necks started to rise. Then a bolt of lightning struck a few feet away from them that made them jump.

"Avatar!" a female voice called out to them. They faced the person to find that it was a girl with black hair and golden eyes. The trio stepped backwards away from the girl.

"You are my enemy! You must be destroyed!" she yelled out. The trio looked at her like she was mentally insane.

The girl rolled her eyes at them and shot a ball of fire at Aang. He screamed and ducked out of the way. While Sokka and Suki ran to hide behind a tree, Aang took a defensive position. Azula shot more fire balls at him while Aang maneuvered his hands so that the fire was extinguished in the air.

As soon as Aang did that, the girl stopped firing at him. Aang eyes were wide as a deer caught in the headlights, hoping to catch her next attack. But she did nothing. She stood there with her head down, as if contemplating on her next move.

The rain started to pour harder, even to the point where the ground beneath their feat was turning to mud. Aang had to keep shifting his feet to stay up.

Just as the girl looked up to reveal her golden eyes, a bolt of lightning flashed through the sky. This just made her look even more frightening.

"So it is you. My sworn enemy is only a child. So inexperienced, so naïve, so… fearful." As the girl hissed the last word, his anger rose. He didn't know why, but he felt like he had hurt her. He stomped his left foot out and punched his right fist into the air. This sent a blast of air towards her and knocked her off her feet.

Aang started breathing heavily from anger and was ready to attack again. The other girl stood up and brushed to dirt off of her. "We will meet again… Avatar." She said before disappearing into the trees.

After a few moments of eerie silence where all that could be heard was the pounding of the rain and an occasional lightning strike, Sokka and Suki came out of hiding. They were both wide eyed and Suki was clinging onto Sokka.

"What just happened?" she whispered.

Aang turned around to face his friends. "I don't know. But I think we should leave. She might come back." The other two nodded and they walked down the street in silence.

The city wasn't very good, so there were lots of alleys. The three of them looked at each other and all thought the same thing. They were a bunch of kids with no money and wanted by at least someone. No one was going to take them in. They would have to sleep in one of the alleys tonight. They searched for a while before finding an alley that had an overhang to protect them from the rain. Sokka and Suki slept together while Aang sat off to the side for a while, thinking.

He thought about Toph. She must hate him so much right now. He had no idea what she could be doing right now, but whatever she was doing, it probably wasn't any better than what he was doing. He knew she couldn't see when it was raining, and it made him feel even worse. He lied down on the wet ground and started to drift off to sleep, but not before he started to agree with the girl that called him fearful. She was right. He was scarred. He was afraid.

* * *

Toph tripped over a tree branch sticking up from the ground and landed face first into a pile of mud. She hated that she couldn't see what was right in front of her.

She pushed herself up and started walking blindly again. After running into three trees, and tripping two more times, she started to hear footsteps behind her.

"Who's there?" she called out. She took an earth bending stance and waited for the person to show up on her radar. Soon someone did, and she about to attack when they spoke up.

"Oh! My apologizes Miss. I didn't mean to frighten you," the man said as he bowed to her. She let her stance drop only a little as her vibrations told her the man was old.

"Are you alright there Miss? You seem to be shaken up a little bit," the old man said kindly.

"I'm fine. I don't need your help," she half yelled at him. She turned around and started to walk away from the man but rammed into a tree. She fell backwards onto her butt with an "oof!"

"Look, I'm not trying to pity you. I want to invite you into my home. I also promise I won't do anything to you." Even though Toph still couldn't very well, his words were so sincere they reached her anyways. She stood up and turned around towards him.

"Alright," she told him. It wasn't in a nice voice for a normal person, but Toph wasn't like everyone. But the man smiled anyways and reached out his arm for her to take. She took it and they started to walk towards his cottage a little ways away.

When they reached it, the old man tossed her a blanket and she curled up in it. She went over to the corner and crouched down in it. The man soon brought her some tea and sat down near her.

"So, if I may ask, why was a young lady such as herself wandering in the forest alone? It's not safe around here," he asked her. Toph let her head hang slightly.

"I'm looking for my friend. He left me and I don't know why," she said solemnly.

"That doesn't sound right. Why would a friend leave you?"

"I don't know. I think it's because of the fact that he's scared of himself."

"Scared of himself? What does that mean?"

Toph sighed. "Well, when we were traveling through the village, some people attacked us. They were starting to gang up on me and he was getting worried. Then he just lost control and he hurt them. It killed him on the inside because he's such a peaceful person. Then we go to sleep in the middle of the forest and when I wake up he's gone," she explained.

The old man sat and thought for a few minutes before answering. "It sounds like you're right. He does seem scared of himself. Maybe he's afraid he would have hurt you if he stayed with you."

"I don't know why. I proven to him time after time that I can take care of myself.""But if he's your friend, then he loves you and wants you to be safe. He doesn't want to be the barer of your griefs," he explained.

Toph's ears perked up at the word love. "Whoa there, you've got it all wrong. He doesn't love me. We're just friends."

"There are many forms of love Miss," he told her. Toph held up her hand.

"Please don't call me miss. It makes me feel old. Just call me Toph."

"Alright, then please call me Iroh." He turned to look at the clock behind him. "Well, Toph, it's getting late. You should probably get some sleep." He gave her a pillow from off the nearby couch so she could sleep on the floor where she was comfortable.

Once she fell asleep, Iroh took her tea cup, put it in the wash, and went to bed himself.

* * *

Zuko ran through to forest, trying to find his uncle's house. He wasn't sure if his uncle would let him in or not, because years ago he vowed to never talk to him again. He just hoped he would forgive him.

He saw the little cottage in the corner and ran up to it. He knew it was late and his uncle was probably in bed, but he had to talk to him.

He knocked on the door furiously. A few minutes later it opened to reveal his uncle half asleep. "Uncle, I need to talk to you," he pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but I already have a guest over." The door was about to shut on him but he stepped in the way. "Please Uncle!"

"Why should I help you? If I remember correctly, you told me that I was just a liar because I was jealous of my brother for becoming fabulously wealthy." He said rudely.

"Please Uncle! I was wrong!" Iroh sighed. "Come in, but quietly."

Zuko did so and was surprised to see a little girl sleeping in the corner. "That's Toph, Zuko. She's staying here for the night," Iroh explained.

"Uncle, why are you letting a little girl stay here? She's beneath you," Zuko asked.

Iroh sighed in frustration at his nephew. "This is exactly why I left the family Zuko. All you care about is how you look to others. Do you even think about what might have happened to this girl? Do you even think about what she might need? Do you?!" Iroh's voice was raised almost to a yell, and it woke up the girl in the corner.

"Huh?" she mumbled. She sat up slightly, rubbing her tired eyes.

Iroh turned to her. "I'm sorry for waking you Miss Toph. This is my nephew Zuko," he said, motioning to him. She nodded in response. Iroh turned back to Zuko. "Why don't you talk to her for a few minutes while I set up a place for you to sleep?" Itoh suggested.

Zuko looked over at the girl and reluctantly walked over to her. "Hello."

She said nothing in response, just looked at him. He scowled. "I said hello."

"What's your point? You obviously don't like me. Don't pretend," she accused.

He snarled at her. "You know, I'm trying to be nice to you, you could at least…" but he was cut off.

"Save it. I don't care. You're not trying to be nice to me. It's sucking up to your uncle," she said and lied down again, closing her eyes. Before she fell asleep, he heard her mutter, "You're pathetic."

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Katara woke up and she felt very sore. She looked around her and found she was still in the forest and it was still night. The fact that it was raining didn't make it any better. She stood up and started walking by herself along the narrow road.

She kept on walking until she came upon a tree with notches in it. Her eyes followed the tree upwards and she saw that there was a tree house at the top. She stepped up to the tree and put her hands into the notches. It was very wet so she had to grip with all her might to keep hold of it. On her way up, her feet started slipping. When she made it half way up the tree, she lost her grip totally and went crashing to the ground.

She cried out loud when she crash landed on her arm. She heard the sickly crack anyone who just broke a bone would hear. She started to sob as pain washed over her. She looked up at the tree house through her tears and knew she had to get up there to be safe.

She once again grabbed hold of the notches on the tree even with her broken arm. Each time she put pressure on it she felt like screaming out in pain and she finally made it to the top, the pain was almost unbearable.

She noticed a puddle of water on the floor and crawled over to it. She laid her arm in it to hopefully ease the pain. She noticed that it started to glow after a while and the pain started to melt away. Her eyes widened when the glowing died down. She lifted her arm up and all the pain was gone.

Suddenly, fatigue took over her, and she passed out of the wooden floor.

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Iroh looked around in his basement for the text his mother had given him years ago. Toph's story had reminded him of it so much; he was compelled to find it. Once he found it, he read it over to himself. A smile soon crept over his face. he knew how to help this young girl.

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**A/N: So, this is it. Hope you all like it! Comments are welcome.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 9

**A.N.- Yes, I know it has seemed like I've given up on this story, but whatever. I haven't, I just happen to have a life too.**

**And for all you smoochers out there that didn't review, I didn't force myself to write this for you. I glued my butt to this chair to write this for _Tefnut Talvi_ and _Shadowsole_. Everyone else just happens to be able to read this too, because only 2 reviews out of 130 is ridiculous. **

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Toph could just make out the soft voices of people arguing as she woke up. The words seemed to slur together in her foggy brain, so she had trouble figuring out what they were saying. She heard her name mentioned a few times and something about a book, but that was it.

She sat up from the floor and shook her head, trying to clear away the foggy feeling. She could feel the sun shining on her face through an open window, but it was a cooler feeling, telling her that it was early in the morning. She groaned and stood up, knowing she had to be on her way. The two other people in the room took notice of her and stopped their conversation immediately.

While the uncle's vibrations were of a pleasant mood, the nephew's were still angry and frustrated. Whatever they had been arguing about, he wasn't coming out ahead.

"Good morning Mi… um… Toph! Would you like some tea?" Iroh asked her. Now that he mentioned it, the pungent smell of jasmine tea hit her. It was relaxing.

Toph sensed that the table the two were sitting at had an extra place set, which she assumed was for her. She sat down and accepted the cup Iroh handed her. She took a swig of it and smiled a bit. He had made this by hand with tea leaves instead of a tea bag like most people today. She voiced this to him and he chuckled.

"I have never liked the way tea tastes like that. I prefer the old fashion way with the leaves. And it costs me less too. This forest is filled with tons of herbs and tea leaves. All I have to do is walk outside." He said this with so much pride it was hard for Toph not to feel happy for him. The table was silent after that as the three ate the watered down oatmeal. Toph had never eaten oatmeal that tasted so bad before, but she was hungry, for she didn't have much food of her own, and ate it anyway.

The nephew, on the other hand, ate one bite of his food before putting down his spoon and glaring at the bowl. Iroh noticed this and looked at him questioningly.

"Is everything alright Zuko?"

"No! Everything is not okay. Uncle, we're eating like rats. We're better than this! We could be eating like royalty and instead we're here sharing what little food there is with the peasant girl," he snarled. Toph's eyes hardened at him.

"You know what Hot Head? You're not the only one with problems. You're not the only one that could be living a better life, so watch who you're talking to," Toph told him. The rest of the meal was completely silent save for the sound of their spoons clattering on the bowls.

When Toph finished her food, she stood up. "Well, thanks for everything Tea Man, but I've got to get going. I can't waste any more time." She started towards the door, but was stopped when Iroh called out to her.

"Oh! Wait one moment Toph. I have something for you." He hastily stood up and got something out of the only other room. Toph sensed him carrying a large object when he came back. He handed it to her, and she realized it was a pack.

It wasn't too heavy, so she assumed it just had food in it. She smiled at the old man's kindness. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. It's been a pleasure having you here. I do hope our paths will cross again." He bowed to her and, despite the fact that it seemed strange to her, Toph returned the gesture. She turned towards the door and was just about to leave when Iroh spoke again.

"You know, I think it would be good if Zuko went with you Toph, to show you the way to the nearest town."

Toph froze in her tracks. The last thing she wanted was to spend more time with Hot Head. The vibrations he was putting off told her he felt the same way. "Look, that's really kind and all, but I can find it on my own."

"Oh no, I insist." Zuko grumbled as he stood up and lead the way through the door. Toph followed him in the same manner.

The walk through the forest was a hard and silent one. The far beyond trees were hidden behind a thick fog and the sunlight was reflecting off all the water molecules. The air was tense between them was as dense as the forest was. Even Toph could hardly see a long way away ahead of her because of all the foliage in the way.

One thing Toph did notice was that where they were, there were lots of animal traps. Whoever set them hadn't done a very good job of hiding them from her vision, but she presumed they were well hidden from everyone else's sight when Zuko almost stepped in one. She reached up and pulled on the collar of his shirt to keep him from having one leg cut off. He fell back onto the grass with an "umf!" He glared up at her, thinking she had done that just to tick him off. He stood up and was about to yell at her when she cut him off.

"Watch where you're going Hot Head," she said, pointing to the trap. She kept walking onward, while he stared dumbly at the ground for a moment whilst his eyes tried to catch sight of what she was pointing at. His eyes went wide at the sight of the deadly trap. He looked back up at Toph to see her pick up a decent sized rock and throw it into the trap. It hit the trap's trigger and it snapped shut, but since the rock wouldn't cut like the flesh of something alive, the trap broke instead.

When her task was completed, Toph continued to walk in the same direction they had been before the incident. Zuko, however was dumbstruck as to how she had known the trap had been there. He ran after her, although not as fast as he could have because he was worried about there being more traps.

"Hey! Why'd you help me?" he asked her when he caught up to her.

"Look, I may not really like you, but even you don't deserve you leg chopped off," she chided, as if it was obvious. This remark silenced Zuko for only a brief moment before he thought of something else.

"How did you know that trap was there?"

There was no hesitation in her answer. "I guess I can see better than you Hot Head," she told him, elbowing him in the side, a small smile gracing her lips.

The silence from before befell them again, but this time there was no tense air surrounding them. It was silence both benders, although unknown to each other, liked to bask in. They stayed like that until the edge of the forest could be seen by them both. The noise from the nearby village could be heard from where they were standing and all the aromas could be smelt by Toph.

"Well, maybe I'll see you around Hot Head," Toph said before leaving his side and exiting the forest and leaving him standing there, just watching her go.

Aang awoke from his slumber in the same condition he was when he fell asleep. He was covered in mud from sleeping in it and he still felt like a jerk. The rain had stopped overnight, but it didn't make him feel any better. He couldn't help but feel horrible about what he figured out last night. He buried his head in his arms, feeling bad just thinking about it. He was so scared. He wished there was someone he could talk to about it all.

Just as he thought this, something was plopped down in front of him. He opened one eye to see a rice cake and somebody's shoes.

"Time to wake up sleepy-head," a voice told him. He looked up to see a girl with bright red hair smiling down at him. He then remembered that Sokka and Suki were with him.

Aang reached out and grabbed the rice cake and started eating, but he didn't move out of the position he was in. Suki sat down in front of him.

"Look kiddo, we'll find your friend, don't worry about it."

"But what am I going to say to her when I see her? I just took off without even saying good-bye. I wouldn't be surprised if she hated me," Aang said, knowing it was all true and hating every part of it.

"If she's really your friend, she'll understand you just wanted to help her. And as for what to say to her when you find her, don't think about that either. Just tell her the truth," Suki said softly. It hurt her to look at Aang so broken up about this, even if she'd only known him for one day.

"Thanks Suki," Aang said as he looked over at her. Silence overcame the two as they ate, but it was broken when Sokka showed up.

"Hey guys! You are never going to believe it! I got job for today! And they'll pay me fifty! Whoo!" he said loudly, clearly proud of himself.

"That's great Sokka, but what about Aang?"

Sokka stopped his happy dance and looked at Aang. He was about to open his mouth and try to say something comforting, but he never got the chance.

"Don't worry about it Sokka. We need money, I'll even come with you, and maybe they'll let me help too."

As it turned out, the people that hired Sokka did need some extra help. The union guys that originally had the job had gone on strike and they needed all the help they could get… lifting extremely heavy boxes onto trucks.

By the end of the day when Aang and Sokka had gone back the where Suki was waiting for them, they could barely walk. Suki sat there giggling at them as they groaned when they tried to sit. "So how'd the job go?" she teased.

They glared at her in response. "Hey, we made some money today, so quit making fun of us," Sokka said, trying to seem manly. He pulled out the bills to show her two fifties.

Suki laughed. "Well, you're not the only one that got a temporary job today. I spent my whole day cleaning bathrooms in a local shop. So quit acting so high and mighty." She pulled out her money to show them. It was fifty also.

"But you didn't have to lift forty pound boxes all day! Cleaning is easy, lifting is hard," Sokka said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What! Easy?! Are you kidding me?! That had got to be the worst thing to do in the whole world," Suki yelled back at him.

"I'm just saying that it's easy woman work. Lifting is hard man work."

"Well, I'll lift you somewhere!"

"Hey! Easy there, we're in no position to fight with each other," Aang said, stepping in between the two, fearful of what Suki might do to Sokka if she had her way. Both teenagers shut their mouths, knowing Aang's words were true. Aang decided to break the silence.

"So together we have one hundred and fifty. Should we go and get some food?" Aang suggested.

"Yes! I'm starving! I need meat!" Sokka exclaimed, acting as if nothing happened.

"Hey kid! Wake up!" a girl yelled, but the sleeping girl didn't stir. "Ugh! Why won't you wake up! You need to get out of our club house!" A hand rested on her shoulder in a comforting way.

"No Longshot, I will not calm down! This girl is in our home!"

"Geez Smellerbee, I can hear you from all the way down here. Do you mind taking it down a notch?" a boy on the ground asked her.

"Shut up Jet. There's a girl up here that doesn't belong here." No less than a second later, Jet was up with the others, looking over the girl. He shook her a little bit and she woke up.

"What! Are you kidding me?" Smellerbee yelled.

"Bee, get a hold of yourself," Jet said over his shoulder. The girl on the floor moaned a bit before sitting up.

"Wha… What's going on?! Where am I?" she asked to no one.

"Well, you're in one of the Freedom Fighters tree houses. As to what's going on, we just found you here, so we were going to ask you the same thing," Jet told her.

"I remember running through the forest, trying to get up here, falling, and then somehow making it back up here."

"Well, I'm Jet, that's Smellerbee and Longshot, and we're part of the Freedom Fighter gang. You can stay with us, if you want."

"Um… okay. I'm Katara, by the way."

A few hours later, Jet had told Katara all about the FF, just to try and impress her. In return, she told him all she could remember about what had happened over the past couple of days. She even told him about being a bender. He was taken by surprise, but didn't think of her any differently.

He showed her around the tree house, and she was surprised that she hadn't noticed any of it before. There were many floors, at least two or three. The one she had slept in was the original one they hadn't added on to. Even though she put on an easy going shell, Katara was terrified on the inside. She didn't know these people; she didn't know what they would do.

Toph had been wandering around the small village looking for some kind of clue to figure out where she was supposed to go to find Aang. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know where to look. She felt like the helpless little girl her parents always expected her to be.

She could tell it was nighttime already by how cold the ground was. Wandering around, she finally found a small alleyway she figured she could sleep in for the night. She just sat down and stared blindly out in front of her, hoping something would come to mind.

But nothing did. The only thoughts running through her head were that of sorrow and fright. She was scared by herself and lonely too. She knew leaving her parents was the right choice, because she would have been locked in her room for the rest of her life, but she didn't know what to do on her own.

She felt lost.

Aang, Suki, and Sokka were having similar feelings to that of Toph unknowingly. They didn't know what to do. They knew that the world was such a big place and it could be next to impossible to find Toph. The only comfort they had was that they weren't going through things alone. They had each other.

A few miles away from the trio, Katara couldn't sleep. She, too, was scared. She was mixed up in a gang. For all she knew, these kids killed people for fun. Sure, Jet had seemed nice, but she didn't know all the other kids in the gang.

She couldn't even run away because she had nowhere to go. It was a sickening feeling, to be stuck where she was and not do anything about it. She wanted to hide, she wanted to run. To be anywhere but where she was her greatest wish.

After what had seemed like hours, but really only a few minutes, all of the kids had fallen asleep, not feeling any better about their situations. But when a rattling noise close by each of them woke them up, the air around them changed. For Toph, a can mysteriously rolled down the alleyway she was in. For Sokka, Suki, and Aang, a mouse scurried by. For Katara, the branches of the trees shook in the peaceful night air. Although none of the kids were relatively close to each other, something was changing.

Toph quickly jumped up and looked around her. She hastily pulled the knapsack onto her back and surveyed the area with her senses. There was something there, she could feel it. It felt like another presence, but she couldn't see it with her earth bending. But she could feel it all around her, and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

She whirled around as the footsteps of people make their way towards her.

"Hey kid! What are you doing out past curfew?" someone yelled at her. Toph did something she had never done in her life. She turned on her heel and bolted in the opposite direction.

"Hey! Come back here!" But Toph didn't stop. She kept on running as fast as she could away from the people.

Sokka, Suki, and Aang were on edge too. They could feel the same presence Toph could and it was scaring them. Before they could even start to look around, a pack of dogs showed up under the street lamp, looking at the kids with a wicked eye. The trio got up and ran away from the dogs in terror.

It was the stupidest thing to do; the run away from dogs like that. The dogs, more power and quicker than any of the kids, should have caught up to them in no time. But they didn't. The trio didn't want to know how close the dogs were, so they never looked back, but kept running forward.

Katara was on scared out of her wits. When she had woken up, feeling the same feeling as the other kids had, she had gotten up to look around. She had heard voices from the other tree and could swear she had heard the kids talking about her. Feeling as if her suspicions had been correct, she quickly got out of the tree house and ran away from them.

She wanted to get as far away from them as possible. She hadn't heard what they had been saying, but she guessed they were planning to rob her or harm her in some way. So she just ran, hoping no one had heard her leave.

Soon, the people had stopped chasing Toph, the dogs had stopped chasing the trio, and Katara could no longer see the dim lights from the tree houses. All had stopped running and were now slowly walking along. The ground below their feet was getting wetter with every step, and the air was becoming thicker. At once, all the kids realized where they were.

A swamp.

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**A.N.- Once again, I'm loosing interest in this story because I have very little motivation to continue. I'll keep writing as long as someone reviews, but hey, your choice. **

**Thanks for reading and please review or expect the next chapter 5 months from now... or more. **


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